There is a big difference between what the crowds want before Christmas, and after: Before Christmas searches are typically centred around either shopping or escaping the shoppers. For the shoppers it's fairs and markets, crafts and gifts (both making and buying), cards, stocking fillers and community stalls.

For those looking to escape the bustling crowds, it's carols (with mince pies, teas, coffees and mulled wines), community events, craft workshops and nativity events. Most people are looking for something different and it doesn't have to be elaborate or expensive for the venue or the participants. Don't forget the element of community – a chance just to meet up and chat can be attractive for the Christmas crowds.

Post Christmas we see a massive rise in people suffering cabin fever and looking to just get out and about. Again, simple things can work well – people are looking for light entertainment, distractions and depending on the weather, some fresh air too.

Being made to feel part of something helps to ensure value for money: Get your staff, curators and actors involved in demonstrations ("how do we do that? try it for yourself") – it creates a great level of involvement and is generally good fun. It also makes use of the facilities and people you already have – these things don't have to cost much to put on.

Beyond that, demonstrations backstage and behind the scenes are fascinating. People love to discover how things are done and aside from involving the members of staff who love to show off what they do, it makes for a really involved experience.

Attitude is vitally important – especially when things go wrong: Most people will accept that things go wrong from time to time and that sometimes things won't be perfect, but if staff are polite, show concern, empathy and an attitude or willingness to get things fixed then that can really make all the difference. Passion and energy will always pull people in and along.

Use others who already have target audiences tapped up: Competitions and discounts though sites that already have the eyes and ears of a target audience you might not be familiar with can be very effective (we've done some very effective promotions for racecourse family days as an example).

Adjust for your target audience: Basic things like having a clean or accessible toilet or cafe could make a real difference when people are choosing whether or not to visit this season. Schools tend to be catered for more with larger educational areas, while families are usually looking for areas to eat or sit down for a bit.

Also, think about your the disabled people in your community – they spend money too. Have you thought about offering anything to that target group (for lack of a better word)?

Have your customers spread the word for you: For example, you tweet a certain word from your venue's account and the follower has to come into the venue to say it to receive a gift or voucher. That person then tweets out what they did with their winnings. It's a brilliant and fun way to force someone into the venue that might not have gone otherwise and they also promote it through social media.

Venue shops are vital at this time of year: There are always going to be a few museums or galleries that have a successful shop but getting the others to start making them a pleasant experience and not an 'Oh little Johnny, will you just hurry up!' scenario is the challenge. For example, there is no need for any cramped aisles.

Also, making them affordable is key when it comes to joining families and shops. The 'penny' items don't need to be junk with a brand sticker slapped on it – I would much rather purchase an item that I know will be used than something that is obviously a token.

Be creative and think outside the box:The sleepovers at the Natural History Museum have been a tremendous success, as are the late night events targeted to other age groups. Has it generated much money? I don't know, but I do know that more and more people are talking about them and trying to attend them, spending money while they're there.

Use Foursquare and Facebook check ins: Coupons and deals are very important in today's economic climate so a suggestion I often tell smaller museums is to encourage their visitors to check in with Facebook of Frousquare and offer them a free gift for the visit. This could be a lollipop or 5% off in the cafe or shop. Why? Because it's then getting the venue's brand name out there.

It's obvious, but people just want to relax at Christmas: We've been doing some work with the new £188.88m Library of Birmingham and part of the concept there is to create a 'living room' for the city to make it clear to people that it's fine to just come in and hang out. I like to think that once you have people inside the walls you can then take them on a journey. Theatres often have large open public spaces as well, which are ideal for informal gatherings.

Encourage offers when selling tickets: One example is where we created a digital ticketing system for the Courtauld a little while back for their Michelangelo's Dream show. It was interesting to see that by integrating retail items such as catalogues (with, say, a 10% discount) at the time of ticket purchase, the take up increased quite significantly. Books are obviously a good item as there tends to be a decent margin but you could do a catering offer in the same way.

This is something most consumers would take for granted in many other industries. I often get offers to buy add-ons such as merchandise or after show party passes when buying tickets for a gig.

Start early. Three years early: I think the Christmas work starts three and four years previously when the mother-and-baby groups spend afternoons in venue foyers. Some art may get in too, but the important thing is that those families have a sense of us as a place to come to, together, for the fun of it. Think of filling those fun spaces with carol singers, food, drink and costume characters etc.

Offers – as opposed to the offer itself – are important: Think family tickets, school trips, group visits and the widest spread of prices you can afford. We go from off-off-peak to premium, for example, along with early bird discounts – even those have a small spread of possible offers inside too.